This invention relates to a physical protector having an inflatable bag member with a small and simple vent valve which can be fittingly worn on or around various parts of the human body to conveniently protect them.
A variety of physical protectors for protecting the parts of the human body, including the trunk, arms and legs, have been used in medical, sports and other various fields.
One of the physical protectors is a chest pad formed by covering a pad base formed of elastic material such as foamed urethane, and has a curved surface fit for the chest with a soft material such as cloth. This chest pad has a commonly acceptable size so as to be generally fitted to a human""s chest with an average physique.
On the other hand, an elastic supporter which is formed by weaving elastic strings into a cylindrical texture of a befitting length is used for protecting the arms and legs. Since differences among individuals in sizes of the human""s wrist, arm and ankle are not noticeable, preparation of at least three supporters of large, medium and small sizes may suffice for every person.
Thus, it may be useful to prepare physical protectors of different sizes fit for every person different in physique. However, the irrationality of having many protectors of different sizes ready for various users has been pointed out.
Furthermore, the size and shape of the chest pad as noted above are not completely conformable to those individuals different in physique. Therefore, when the chest pad of this sort is put on the chest of a man with his clothes on, it will be uncomfortable to wear in most cases. Although the chest pad has generally the pad base as a core formed of elastic material such as foamed urethane, it cannot be closely fitted to the chests of all men, and therefore every man does not always feel comfortable and cannot be protected completely.
The inventor of the present invention has proposed arm and finger protective holders each formed of a bag-shaped flat wrapping member in Japanese Patent Application Disclosure No. HEI 6-239268(A). The flat wrapping member of the proposed holder is provided with a vent valve and inflated with air introduced through the vent valve in a state wound around the arm or finger, thus protecting the arm or finger.
The vent valve on the wrapping member of the aforesaid holder is formed by boring a small hole in a membrane of the wrapping member and sealing the hole with an adhesive seal upon introducing air into the bag-shaped wrapping member through the hole. However, the vent valve of this structure makes it impossible to subtly control the expansion of the wrapping member. Moreover, the adhesive seal is used with the intention of using the holder repeatedly, but the vent valve can neither endure repeated use nor discharge the air efficiently.
In general, the vent valve of this type has a complicated structure including a valve body for performing the opening and closing operations and a spring member for urging the valve body in one direction. Thus, this complicated vent valve mounted on the protective device entails a structural disadvantage such that it makes the protective device complicated and bulky, although the protective device itself should be simple in structure and easy to handle.
A simple check valve may possibly be assembled in an air pipe to form another vent valve. However, the vent valve also makes the protective device thick and bulky, and besides, it is too hard to wear comfortably.
The present invention was made to remedy the drawbacks suffered by the conventional physical protectors mentioned above and has an object of providing a physical protector which is simple and compact in structure, has excellent durability, and is provided with a vent valve capable of performing selective introduction and release of air.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a physical protector which can be conformably fitted to an object to be protected, thereby suitably protecting the object.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a physical protector capable of effectively protecting not only the human body and limbs, but also various articles and commodities.
To attain the objects described above according to the present invention, there is provided a physical protector comprising gas-barrier seal members which are different in deformability, a valve which is opened by elastically deforming the seal members with a pushing force to form an air passage and closed by releasing the pushing force to resume the original shape of the seal members, thus closing the air passage, and a bag member formed of sheet-like gas-barrier membranes so as to be attached to the human body or limbs. The valve is mounted onto the bag member so as to open or close the bag member.
The valve is opened by utilizing the deformability of the seal members to thereby let air in the bag member through the air passage, thus inflating the bag member with the air. The bag member thus inflated is worn on a part of the human body. When the valve resumes its original shape, the air passage is closed. Therefore, by controlling the pushing force exerted on the seal members, the inflation of the bag member can be regulated to the desired condition. The discharge of the air from the bag member is accomplished by pressing the seal members to open the air passage and then pressing the bag member.
The seal members may be made of soft and rigid seal materials. Since two soft and rigid seal members of different kinds are different in deformability, a void is defined between the seal members to open the air passage when elastically deforming the seal members and closed when elastically restoring the seal members due to the difference in deformability between the soft and rigid seal members.
The soft seal member noted above may be made of a film sheet, and the rigid seal member may be made of a thick sheet having a desired thickness. The seal members have vent holes at different positions, respectively, and are laid one on top of another and closely in surface contact with each other. Thus, the void through which the vent holes formed at different positions in the seal members are connected is defined between the rigid and soft seal members to secure the air passage. Since the rigid and soft seal members are laminated as noted above, the air passage assumes its closed state under a normal condition, thus fulfilling the function of a valve.
As another way, on the top of an elastically deformable rigid member having a spherical surface with a central protrusion, a soft member having a similar spherical surface may be closely placed, thus constituting the seal members. With this structure in which the soft seal member is elastically supported by the central protrusion of the rigid seal member, the air passage defined between the seal members can be securely sealed.
Otherwise, the soft seal member may have a vent hole in its central portion, and the rigid seal member may have a vent hole in its peripheral portion. In this embodiment, by depressing the rigid seal member with a pointed tool or the like through the central vent hole in the soft seal member, the void is formed between the seal members to enlarge the air passage. By pulling out the pointed tool, the rigid seal member regains its original shape, thereby closing the vent hole bored in the peripheral portion of the rigid seal member. Thus, the function of a valve can be fulfilled as well.
The soft seal member may be provided with elongated vent holes extending from the central portion toward the peripheral portion of the seal member, and the vent hole formed in the rigid seal member may be located apart from the elongated vent holes. With this structure, by depressing the portion of the soft seal member in which one of the elongated vent holes is formed with a finger, a void is formed between the soft seal member and the rigid seal member. Simultaneously, the remaining elongated vent holes formed in the portions of the soft seal member to which the depressing force is not applied are open to form air passages. When the depressing force is released, the peripheral portion of the rigid soft member first elastically restores its original shape to cause the peripheral portion of the rigid seal member in which the vent holes are formed to be brought into intimate contact with the soft seal member, consequently fulfilling the function of a valve.
The rigid seal member may be provided with a support column extending downward from the lower surface of the rigid seal member. By depressing the rigid seal member, the bag member is pushed down through the support column to widen the opening of the bag member.
The soft seal member may have a substantially H-shaped vertical cross section so as to serve as a valve body to be set in a fitting hole which is formed in the rigid seal member as a sleeve-like valve seat. The valve body is elastically deformed to secure the air passage between itself and the fitting hole in the valve seat. According to this, the soft seal member is elastically deformed to form the air passage between the soft seal member and the rigid valve seat.
Or again, the soft seal member may have a substantially H-shaped vertical cross section so as to serve as a valve body to be set in a fitting hole which is formed in the rigid seal member as a sleeve-like valve seat. The valve body is elastically deformed by operating a rotary press means to secure the air passage between itself and the fitting hole in the valve seat. With this embodiment, by rotating the rotary press means to depress the soft valve body, the soft seal member is elastically deformed to form the air passage between the soft seal member and the rigid valve seat.
As a countermeasure, the rigid seal member may have a substantially H-shaped vertical cross section so as to serve as a valve body to be set in a fitting hole which is formed in the soft seal member as a sleeve-like valve seat. The valve body is elastically deformed to secure the air passage between itself and the fitting hole in the valve seat. According to this, the rigid seal member is elastically deformed to form the air passage between the rigid seal member and the soft valve seat.
The soft seal member may be formed into a valve body having a tapered base portion so as to have a substantially H-shaped vertical cross section as a whole, and the rigid seal member may be formed into a sleeve-like valve seat having a tapered fitting hole. By depressing the valve body to slide the valve body, an air passage is formed between the base portion of the valve body and the fitting hole of the valve seat. According to this, by sliding the valve body along the tapered face on the fitting hole of the valve seat, a void is formed between the valve body and the fitting hole of the valve seat, and by bringing the valve body and the valve seat into close contact with each other, sealing between the fitting hole and the base portion can be achieved.
The soft seal member may be provided with a pump for pressurizing fluid in the air passage. Furthermore, a watertight cap may be disposed on a part of the seal member to increases the water resisting property of the bag member.